


There’s something sweet tucked in yours eyes that I’d love to meet

by voices_in_my_head



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: no new content for Briam? guess I'll do it myself, takes place mostly after S4 though ignores the rest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:42:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27254374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voices_in_my_head/pseuds/voices_in_my_head
Summary: "“Yeah, so, the reason Scott and Kira weren’t at the game is because they were kidnapped and taken to Mexico. Scott almost became a Berserker but… We got him back.”“Shit.”Liam laughs and it might just sound a bit hysterical. Brett is nice enough not to comment. “Derek gave me this… ancient talisman to hold, to keep my control, said that I should repeat a mantra: alpha, beta, omega.”“To remember how one can rise or fall.”“Yeah. But it didn’t work for me.”“But you got it under control,” Brett says and it doesn’t come out questioning at all.“Stiles remembered another mantra. The sun, the moon and the truth.”There’s a pause. Then, “ours.” It comes out in a soft tone, one that Liam doesn’t think he’s ever heard from Brett. It makes his heart skip a breath, for some reason."
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Brett Talbot
Comments: 10
Kudos: 46





	There’s something sweet tucked in yours eyes that I’d love to meet

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I know I'm super late to the Briam party but honestly, we were robbed, and I'm not letting go so soon.
> 
> The first part takes place after S4E11 - the one where Brett talks to Liam in the locker room after the lacrosse game - and the rest after the end of the season.

“What about you?” Liam asks, can hear Brett stopping just before leaving the locker’s room. He doesn’t move for the next few seconds, clearly considering whether he wants to turn back or not.

“What about me?” Brett’s voice reverberates around them and Liam gets up from the bench he’d been sitting on and rounds the row of lockers.

“How did you become a werewolf?” Liam asks to Brett’s back, who finally turns around, one eyebrow raised.

“You really wanna know?”

“Yeah,” Liam shrugs. “It’s not like we’ve talked about it.”

“We haven’t really talked about much,” Brett says but his face is doing something, like he’s unsure what expression to take on. Liam can’t help but to hiss a breath, even though he knows Brett will hear, can in fact see the way his eyes turn to him attentively.

Yeah, there’s a lot of things they haven’t talked about.

“I…” Liam starts, then pauses, makes a face of his own. Does he really want to have this conversation?

“What?” Brett asks, voice carefully neutral.

 _Never mind_ , Liam thinks but doesn’t say. He blinks at Brett a couple times; the two of them are on good terms right now. He doesn’t really want to rock that boat. But at the same time…

“You being a werewolf. Is that why you… picked on me? Were you having control issues?”

Brett blinks. Then he very clearly clenches his jaw and Liam almost apologizes, almost says it’s none of his business, but decides to stand his ground because it is in fact his business.

“I was born a werewolf,” Brett stars and Liam blinks in surprise. “Me and my sister. Our parents were both werewolves.”

“I didn’t know it was a gene that could be passed that way,” Liam says, even though now that he thinks about it… It does make sense, doesn’t it? Well, he’d surely have appreciated a heads up from Scott. That’s certainly something he’ll one day be thinking of… But not today. He forces his mind back to the conversation at hand.

“Yeah,” Brett says, just that. “So I learnt to control the shift pretty early.”

Liam has a lot of questions; what was it like, being a child werewolf? What other worries had Brett’s parents had? But he decides this isn’t really the moment to be asking them.

“I bullied you because you were easy. I don’t have an excuse. I’m sorry. I should have said it earlier but… I guess I hoped we’d just never talk about it,” Liam opens his mouth, doesn’t know what the hell he’s going to say, but Brett continues on, “which was a cowardly choice on my part.”

Liam closes his mouth with a clack sound. “Thanks,” he finally croaks out, finds he means it. Brett nods back, then once again turns to leave. “Hey,” Liam stops him one more time.

Brett sighs but turns back, once again with a raised eyebrow.

“Do you… Do you want to hang out sometime? I still have problems with controlling the shift and you… Don’t.”

Brett studies him for a few seconds before nodding. “Yeah, alright,” he takes out his phone, passes it to Liam, contacts information open. “Put in your number.”

Liam does as told, imagines just for a couple seconds adding something stupid or an emoji to his name, but just goes with his first and last name. He and Brett definitely aren’t close enough for that.

He texts himself before giving the phone back to Brett, who puts it back on his pocket. Then he says, “see ya, Dunbar,” and turns around and finally leaves. Liam stares at the empty space, blinks a few times before inhaling deeply. That… actually went alright. Now he just needs to find Scott; where the hell is he?

.

On Saturday, just after lunch, Liam calls Brett.

“Hey.”

“Yeah, so, the reason Scott and Kira weren’t at the game is because they were kidnapped and taken to Mexico. Scott almost became a Berserker but… We got him back.”

“Shit.”

Liam laughs and it might just sound a bit hysterical. Brett is nice enough not to comment. “Derek gave me this… ancient talisman to hold, to keep my control, said that I should repeat a mantra: alpha, beta, omega.”

“To remember how one can rise or fall.”

“Yeah. But it didn’t work for me.”

“But you got it under control,” Brett says and it doesn’t come out questioning at all.

“Stiles remembered another mantra. The sun, the moon and the truth.”

There’s a pause. Then, “ours.” It comes out in a soft tone, one that Liam doesn’t think he’s ever heard from Brett. It makes his heart skip a breath, for some reason.

“Yeah,” he says, for lack of anything better. Brett doesn’t reply, though Liam can hear his breathing, knows he’s still on the other side.

Finally, “I’m glad you’re okay. All of you.”

“Yeah,” Liam says again but this time it comes out on a sigh. Brett doesn’t say anything and for some reason, Liam thinks that he’s waiting for him to speak again. So he does, “I wasn’t… I wasn’t sure we would. Scott… He wasn’t himself.”

Again, Brett just waits him out.

“I said what he told me when he first bit me. That I wasn’t a monster. That I was a werewolf.”

“He’s right.”

“Yeah…” Liam says a third time, knows he should absolutely come up with something else. “I’m starting to get that.”

“Did you feel like a monster before?”

“I felt out of control. Like I could hurt someone. Which isn’t… Exactly new to me, but before I didn’t have supernatural strength.”

“I was going to say _with great power comes great responsibility_ but honestly, that’s bullshit. It’s not about your abilities, it’s what you do with them. And Liam, you’re doing good.”

“Thanks,” Liam says on an exhale. Scott’s told him that too and he’s been on the receiving end of approving looks from Stiles, Kira, Malia and even Lydia and it’s always felt… good.

They’re silent afterwards. It’s not… uncomfortable, but Liam isn’t exactly sure how to continue the conversation. Or if he should just end it, but he’s the one who called first and what was he even hoping to achieve? He’d just… wanted to talk to someone away from the situation, who wasn’t dealing with their own feelings about it.

“Do you wanna go to the movies?” Brett’s voice brings him out of his reverie. Liam blinks.

“I… What? Why?” He frowns. He and Brett have never actually hanged out just the two of them, he’s pretty sure.

Brett sighs, clearly finding Liam slow on the uptake. “Because you obviously need to do something to keep your mind away from what happened in Mexico. And really, just to chill.”

“And you?”

“I’m bored,” Brett says, kind of elongates the words.

Liam laughs, doesn’t feel insulted in the least.

“What do you wanna watch?”

“The new Thor is out,” Brett immediately answers and Liam laughs again.

“I didn’t know you were into superheroes.”

“Dude, who isn’t? Also, that film is like… every bisexual’s dream. I mean, Chris Hemsworth, Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings? Blessed.”

Liam laughs again, even though he’s pretty sure Brett doesn’t mean it as a joke. He didn’t know he was bisexual, but honestly, with everything he didn’t know before this last year started… Barely a blink in his radar.

“Okay, yeah, that sounds good,” Liam finally says, still smiling.

“Cool, at the movie theatre in the mall? There’s a screening at a quarter past four.”

“Alright. I’ll be there at four.”

“See you then,” Brett says and doesn’t wait for a reply before disconnecting. Liam just rolls his eyes at his phone after lowering it.

There’s still some time until four, but Liam also knows that if he starts doing something – like playing a video game – he’ll either get so into it he’ll forget the time, or not want to leave the house anymore. So he decides he might as well get there early; check out the stores.

Liam takes the bus to the mall, gets there just a bit after three o’clock. He almost goes to eat something, but then decides he’d rather have some popcorn later. With his supernatural metabolism, he could get away with both but, unfortunately, his parents don’t yet know he’s going through more food than usual, so his allowance has remained the same.

Liam looks around the videogame shop, then the bookstore and even goes inside a couple clothes stores, even though his desire to choose some and then try them on is nonexistent. Finally, at a quarter to four, Liam goes to the movie theater, simply standing around, since there isn’t anything he wants to check on his phone.

Instagram, facebook, twitter… it all used to be a lot more fun before becoming a werewolf. Now, whenever he sees posts of pictures of friends together, he can’t help but think _you don’t know what’s really out there_.

He kind of wishes he didn’t either. But that’s not something Liam spends a lot of time pondering on; if there’s something having IED helped him with – eventually –, it’s that somethings you just have to accept. Yeah, they suck, and there’s no good reason for them to have happened, but it is what it is.

“Hey,” Brett’s voice calls Liam back to reality. He turns around, caught by surprise at how… different Brett looks. It’s not like he hasn’t seen him outside of the lacrosse or school uniforms, but… Jeans, a tank top and a flannel shirt on top. Oh, and of course, boots that look like Doc Martens, though Liam is pretty sure aren’t.

He looks good. And, from the appreciative glances Brett’s receiving, Liam’s not the only one who thinks so.

“You’re early,” Brett says and Liam checks his phone; it’s still ten to four.

“So are you.”

Brett shrugs, “like I said, I was bored.”

“So you weren’t going to come watch Thor otherwise?”

“I’ve already seen it twice,” Brett says and Liam can’t help but to raise his eyebrows. Brett smirks, “like I said, every bisexual’s dream.” Liam rolls his eyes and Brett laughs. “No, for real, it’s got a cool story.”

“Does it mention the Avengers at all?”

“You’re gonna have to wait and see. Also, weren’t you the one mocking me for liking superhero films?”

“I didn’t mock you. I was just surprised you liked them.”

Brett raises an eyebrow, “why? What exactly do you think I like?”

“Dunno,” Liam frowns, actually giving it some thought. “I don’t know if you give off more of a dumb jock vibe or _I read Kafka in my free time_ one.”

Brett laughs and again, Liam can’t help but to be struck at just how handsome he is. It’s unfair, really. Especially now that he isn’t even an asshole anymore.

“Kafka, really?”

Liam shrugs, “it’s the first name that popped in my mind.”

“Actually, I like classical literature. Victor Hugo, Alexander Dumas.”

“The Three Musketeers, right?” Liam asks, even though he also recognizes Victor Hugo’s name. But he doesn’t think he’s ever actually said _Les Misérables_ out loud and can’t imagine he won’t butcher the name in an embarrassing way.

“Yeah. It’s actually a series, did you know?” Brett continues after Liam shakes his head, “yeah, people think it’s just that one book, but there’s several sequels. The numbers depend on how the books have been divided, honestly.”

“Have you read them all?” Liam asks, genuinely curious and captivated by the turn of the conversation. It’s so… unexpected.

“Nah. I liked the Three Musketeers but it’s not perfect or anything, right? Like… I like the classical language, how it’s different from how people write or speak nowadays. But obviously, they also mirror their times and there can be some pretty sexist, homophobic and racist parts.”

Liam blinks, “right. Yeah, that makes sense. I guess it’s also how we see history, right? History is written by the victors and all that.”

“Winston Churchill, right?”

“It’s actually in debate. Everyone thinks he did say it, but there’s no record of it, though he said something similar. There’s a debate whether it was actually his German rival in World War II who said it. But there’s also records of similar phrases having been said before.”

Brett is staring at Liam when he finally stops, and he can’t help but to blush slightly.

“I guess neither of us is a dumb jock,” Brett says and Liam gives a short laugh, kind of tense, even though he doesn’t know why. “Lori probably knows where that stereotype comes from.”

“Uh?”

“The dumb jock one. She… She doesn’t like stereotypes, so she likes to find out where they came from, you know?”

Liam nods, pretty sure he knows exactly where Lori got that from.

_You’re not a monster. You’re a werewolf._

He wonders just what it means to have grown up like that, if Brett and Lori ever saw themselves as anything but normal.

“Right, let’s get the tickets. I buy and you get the snacks?”

“You better not want peanut M&M’s.”

“What am I, a heathen? Classical ones or nothing.”

Liam nods, approving, then goes to the food counter and Brett goes to the movie tickets one.

He debates getting popcorn or not; on one hand, he does love them and has been craving some since he first said yes to coming to the movies, but Liam also has very strong opinions about crunching too loud and either missing out on what the people on screen are saying or people around thinking he’s making too much noise eating them.

But also, he and Brett are werewolves. What are the chances the bucket will last them past the opening trailers?

Mind made up, Liam gets them a large bucket of sweet popcorn, a large packet of regular M&Ms, a large one of sour patch kids (what’s the point in coming to the movies without getting them) and two regular cokes. After paying, he then realizes he doesn’t actually have enough hands to pick everything up.

Luckily, Brett shows up at that moment, picking up the drinks, leaving the food for Liam, who quickly gets them.

Brett’s capable of showing their tickets without spilling anything and then they’re inside; since the film has already been out for a couple weeks, the room isn’t really full. Still, Brett takes them to the last row, choosing two middle seats. Liam usually likes to be slightly closer to the screen, but since Brett was in the front – and also bought the tickets – he just sits beside him in silence.

Brett immediately puts a hand inside the popcorn bucket, on Liam’s lap, and starts eating them. Liam stares at him for a couple seconds and then with a shrug, decides that if he wants to share popcorn, he can eat them the way he eats. So he opens the sour patch kids’ bag and pours them all on top of the popcorn.

“What did you just do?”

“Don’t knock it ‘till you tried it,” Liam says and immediately grabs a small handful to take to his mouth. He exaggeratedly makes an approving sound, receiving a disgusted look in response from Brett. Then he sighs and takes his own handful, though smaller from the first.

Liam can’t help but to stare avidly in Brett’s direction, who eats exactly one popcorn and one sour patch kid – a blue one – together. He chews slowly before swallowing.

“It’s… Not bad, Dunbar.”

Liam grins, getting a smile in return. His heart seems to skip a beat at it but he doesn’t pay it any attention. Then the trailers start and Liam turns to the screen, genuinely enjoying them.

As expected, by the time the movie starts, Liam has put the empty popcorn bucket on the floor in front of the empty chair to his side and has opened the M&M’s packet, still keeping it on his lap. Since it’s smaller than the popcorn bucket, Brett really can’t be blamed when his hand lands on his leg instead of it, thank god closer to his knee than… anywhere else. Liam moves the bag to the armrest between them in silence, cheeks red.

“Sorry,” Brett whispers but Liam doesn’t turn from the screen.

“It’s alright,” he whispers back and that’s the last they talk as the movie moves past the first scene.

It’s a better film than Liam expected, honestly. And he absolutely gets what Brett said about it being a bisexual’s dream and what made him come watch it three times. Though Liam probably won’t go that far.

“What did you think?” Brett asks as they come out.

“It was good. That after-credits scene was really good.”

“Right? I can’t wait to see what they’re doing next. And the way Loki was sitting on that throne…” Brett exhales slowly and Liam laughs. “Hey, do you wanna go for a bite?”

Liam raises an eyebrow at him, but before he can say anything, his stomach growls which… pretty much answers for him.

“Yeah, alright, let me just text my mom.”

Brett nods, keeps silent as Liam takes out his phone and does as said. Once it’s back in his pocket, he asks, “so, what do you wanna eat?”

Liam shrugs, “pizza? Haven’t had that in a while.”

“Sounds good. And I know it’s not Italian in the least, but I love Pizza Hut. And you already got to eat your weird snack…”

“You ate as much as I did! Maybe more!” Liam says, and then rolls his eyes, “but Pizza Hut is fine. It’s not Domino’s, but…”

“Get out of here,” Brett says, pushing Liam away with a hand on his shoulder, though he doesn’t do it with too much strength, barely enough to get Liam off balance. Liam, of course, just pushes him back. Brett laughs in response and then they’re silent as they reach the Pizza Hut counter. But Brett actually leads them inside. At Liam’s raised eyebrow, he explains, “you really want to order like 6 slices?”

Liam’s gotta give it to him. He nods in acceptance and they go inside.

They’re seated quickly, the restaurant about halfway full, and also order just as quickly, Brett goings for a peperoni pizza and Liam for a barbecue one.

“So, how’s school?” Brett asks and Liam blinks, caught off guard. Then he frowns.

“Good?”

“You don’t know?” Brett raises an eyebrow which, now that Liam is sitting right in front of him, he has got to get them professionally made. No one has such perfect eyebrows naturally.

“This isn’t really what we talk about,” Liam finally replies.

Brett’s eyebrow remains raised. “You want to talk about being a werewolf instead?”

Liam genuinely thinks about it. He hasn’t really talked about it; he’s lived the reality and he’s gotten both pep talks and things to pay attention to from Scott, but actually saying how he’s felt about it… But Liam isn’t really that person, that simply spits out everything he’s feeling. The fact that he’d be doing it to Brett, who he previously wasn’t on good terms – to say the least – barely enters his mind as he decides that actually, he doesn’t want to talk about being a werewolf.

“No. But I definitely don’t want to talk about school either.”

Brett laughs, showing off his shiny white teeth – again, he must have an amazing dentist. Or maybe werewolf teeth just… remain cleaner for longer? And now that Liam’s brain on the subject, how exactly are his teeth and nails growing longer? Are they… underneath his skin, just waiting to be let out? Is it some type of magic?

“So what do you want to talk about?” Brett’s voice brings Liam back to reality. Brett probably knows the answers to Liam’s questions but he’s already decided that they wouldn’t talk about being werewolves. And, despite how friendly to each other they now are, Liam can’t imagine a reality where Brett wouldn’t mock him for his doubts.

“What do you do in your free time?” Liam asks, doesn’t allow himself to cringe at how awkward the subject change is. But honestly, he’s kind of curious. In reality, the two of them barely know anything about each other.

“I read, mostly. Spend time with the pack. Try to decide what the hell I’m going to do after high school.”

Liam blinks. That’s… Probably something he should start thinking about at some point too. But he figures that with how his life has turned out in the last few months, he can be forgiven for putting it out of his mind.

“And… Have you made a decision?”

Brett shrugs, “not really. Satomi… She’s invested some of the money my parents left me and Lori, so that’s not really an issue. But…” He shrugs again, “it’s kind of wild, right? How you’re like… You live eighteen years of your life following a specific formula, and then you’re just supposed to suddenly decide what you want to do for the rest of your life.”

Liam blinks. He… Hadn’t thought of it that way. Brett laughs, half amused, half self-conscious, though not in an embarrassed manner, just aware of how he sounded.

“I’m used to having deep conversations at like 2am. And usually after having some pot brownies.”

Liam blinks again. “Wait, those still affect us?”

“Oh yeah. I mean, you gotta put a lot more pot but yeah, you’ll feel it.”

Liam leans back on his chair. That’s… Good information to have.

“Who do you talk to at 2am?”

Brett shrugs, “whoever’s around. Satomi, Adam, Izzy, Thomas…”

“Not Lori?”

“I don’t stop her from doing pot if that’s what you’re asking. We’re all safe, make sure everyone is fine before going to bed and all that. But usually she’s sleeping at 2am.”

“Not you?”

Brett shrugs again, “it’s like… My brain just wakes up at night.”

Liam blinks, realizing that while he’d decided he’d rather not share his intimate thoughts with Brett, Brett was having no trouble doing it to him.

“I’ve no idea what I’m doing after high school,” Liam says, feels it’s only fair to share. And also, not like he’s going to be judged by Brett. Not that he thinks anyone from the pack or Mason would judge him, but… Despite all the baggage that he and Brett have, this is also kind of a new beginning. A blank canvas. All preconceptions thrown out the window. At least, Liam hopes so.

“You have time,” Brett says and it doesn’t sound patronizing. Hell, it kind of sounds like he’s talking to himself too.

Before Liam can figure out how to reply – _you too_ sounds like too little – their food is brought to them.

The two of them spend the next couple of minutes not talking, just focusing on eating. Liam has to stop himself from moaning; it’s been a while since he’s had pizza.

Some cheese falls off Brett’s slice down his chin, and after swallowing, he cleans it up with a finger, then puts it in his mouth. Liam’s slice almost falls from his hand at the sight. He forces himself to look away, to his food.

“It’s good,” Brett says and Liam hums in agreement, forces himself to look back at Brett who is, luckily, eating his pizza without any more licking of his fingers.

Suddenly, Liam is feeling awkward and he doesn’t even know why. But he also can’t figure out how to make the awkwardness go away. Every topic of conversation he thinks of just seems stupid.

“You didn’t tell me what you liked to do in your free time.”

“Uh?”

Brett raises an eyebrow, “you asked me what I liked to do in my free time. But we never got around to what you do.”

“Oh, right,” Liam says, then blinks. “I… Play video games. Spend time with Mason,” he can’t help but to grimace at that, at how he’s been a really shitty friend to him these past few months, especially considering the other people he hanged out with turned out to be professional assassins.

“You thinking of telling him about being a werewolf?”

“I don’t know. I want to, but what if knowing will put him in danger?”

“You could pull away until your friendship eventually breaks,” Liam’s stomach clenches just at the thought but Brett keeps talking, “but I don’t think that’d be much better. Yeah, he might be safer, but he probably wouldn’t be in a great mental health space, right?”

“What do you mean?” Liam asks, frowning.

“Well, if Mason suddenly stopped talking to you… You’d either wonder if there was something wrong with him… Or with you. It’d probably drive you crazy.”

Liam blinks, not having thought of that. Then he starts feeling guilty. Because he has kind of been ignoring Mason for the past few months, hasn’t he?

“Hey, don’t feel guilty. I’m not saying it’s an easy choice. Or that you should feel guilty about it.”

“Do any of your friends know you’re a werewolf?”

“No, but… Well, my pack isn’t like Scott’s.”

“You mean you’re not always being attacked?”

“Pretty much,” Brett says, again sounding half amused, half self-conscious.

Liam wonders what that would be like. Being in a pack that doesn’t find itself in life or death situations on a regular basis. And Liam hasn’t even been with them for that long; but he’s been told things, heard enough from conversations to figure out other things. Definitely remembers Scott saying _“not all of us”_.

“We still ended up in the dead pool, though,” Brett says and he doesn’t sound shaken, but Liam can’t imagine it’s not an act. It wasn’t even just him; Lori had been there too. Brett not only thought he was about to die, but that his little sister was going with him. “Hey, stop thinking whatever you’re thinking.”

“You can smell my emotions, right?” Liam asks, but isn’t actually upset. This is… well, it’s in Brett’s nature, and in a way that comes far more easily to him than it does to Liam.

“Yeah, and you’re not thinking anything good.”

“No,” Liam says, then pauses. But Brett just stares at him, open, waiting him out. “I just…” He stops again. Thinks _almost died_ but while it’s very much true, somehow, Liam doesn’t want to say the words out loud.

“You wish it could be easier, right? Being a werewolf? Or not having been turned at all.”

Liam doesn’t say anything right away. But Brett stays silent long enough that he figures the ball’s on his corner. “I don’t wish I wasn’t a werewolf. That’s like wishing I didn’t have IED. Okay, my life would be easier without it, probably, but it is what it is, right? You either accept it or you don’t and are unhappy about it all the time.

“But…” He pauses, doesn’t know how to continue. Then he sighs, “I guess I do wish it was easier.”

“Well…” Brett starts and Liam looks in him the eyes. “I guess it’s about finding things to make it easier, right?”

“Like going to the movies?”

“Yeah,” Brett answers and smiles, a big one. Liam’s heart skips a beat at the sight but he doesn’t pay it any attention.

They change subject afterwards and the rest of the meal passes uneventful. When their dishes have been taken away and the bill is brought to them, Brett grabs it and refuses to pass it to Liam.

“I can pay my meal,” Liam says, annoyed, but not angry. A bit bewildered, if anything. Sure, he’s paid for friends, but usually when they didn’t have any money, or it being left unsaid that they’d pay for their next outing. This… feels different.

“My treat,” Brett says and Liam flushes at that, even though he really has no idea why. Though… he’s starting to get an inkling. Still, he decides to stop fighting it and Brett pays without further protest, the two of them then leaving the restaurant.

Liam can pretty much feel his heart going faster and stronger than usual, is sure that Brett can hear it too, probably smell his… nervousness? Confusion? Liam doesn’t even know. Maybe Brett can shine a light on just what he’s feeling.

Liam almost keeps quiet. Why rock the boat, right? But… well, he almost died and that puts things in perspective, right? Like, if he embarrasses himself, what’s the worst that’ll happen? Brett will have new ammunition to mock him? Liam doesn’t even think he’s interested in that anymore. And if he is… Like he said, there’s a lot worse things that could happen.

So, as they leave the mall, Brett leading them to their car, even though they haven’t agreed he’d give Liam a ride, Liam stops him in the middle of the parking lot, making him turn to him.

Brett does it without protest, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Was this…” Liam takes a deep breath, “was this a date?”

Brett blinks, doesn’t say anything right away and Liam is one second away from running away. He does let go of Brett’s arm, at least.

“If you’d like it to be,” Brett says and it’s Liam’s turn to blink. “I’d like it to be, but only if you’re comfortable with it. I’d like to be your friend either way, Liam.”

Liam keeps blinking. He knows he’s the one who asked the question, who had thought this wasn’t all in his imagination, but he hadn’t really thought Brett would say yes. _What, did you think he was going to say “no homo”?_ Liam can’t help but to laugh at it, even though it makes Brett frown at him.

“Sorry, sorry, just thought something dumb. I…” He pauses, “I don’t know if I like guys.”

Brett raises an eyebrow, “but you don’t know if you don’t not like them?”

Liam shrugs, “it hasn’t seemed all that important, you know? Like, in the grand scheme of things, what the hell does it matter if I like boys or girls?”

“Or both.”

“Or both,” Liam nods.

“Well… I don’t mind helping you figure it out.”

Liam frowns, “I don’t want to string you along.”

“As long as you’re honest about what you’re feeling, I don’t think you would. You don’t have to say yes but if you wanted, we could… go on another date. See how it feels.”

Liam blinks. It doesn’t… sound bad. He still feels nervous, but not in a bad way. In a… exciting way. Like it’s something new.

“Can I kiss you?”

Brett raises both eyebrows, genuinely caught off guard, which Liam can’t help but to give a quick smile.

“That’s certainly a way to figure out if you like guys.”

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Liam says, remembers how Brett had said _“I’d like it to be”_. If he likes Liam and Liam decides guys aren’t actually something he’s interested in, that will hurt him, won’t it?

Brett swallows, then raises his hands so they’re on Liam’s waist, over his jeans, so there’s really no good reason for Liam to feel goosebumps. Then he starts leaning down.

“You sure?” Brett whispers, still with quite some distance between them, so Liam pushes himself on his tiptoes, puts both hands on Brett’s arms to keep his balance and kisses him.

It’s not Liam’s first kiss. It’s not even his first kiss with a guy (Mason, fifth grade, they’d thought _why the hell not?_ ), but it is… different. Not because it’s with a guy, Liam doesn’t think, but because it’s Brett.

He knows the lips touching his are Brett’s and that’s what’s making his heart race faster, that’s what’s making him lean forward, grab onto his arms with more strength.

Brett raises one hand to Liam’s cheek, directs his face to change the angle and Liam can’t help but to open his mouth at it. Brett takes the chance to deepen the kiss which makes Liam’s hands squeeze. He decides to raise one to the back of Brett’s head, playing with his hair, softly. Brett moans against his mouth, and Liam… Well, he wants to make the sound happen again.

Eventually, air becomes a necessity, though Liam doesn’t know who exactly pulls away first. He feels a bit lightheaded, giddy.

“Hey,” Brett says, face still close to him, smiling.

“Hey,” Liam replies, still on his tiptoes, which certainly isn’t comfortable, but he likes not having to look up so much.

“How was it?” Brett asks and Liam almost says a joke like _“I don’t know, maybe we should try again?”_ because it sounds flirty, but he catches the way Brett sounds kind of nervous, doesn’t want to play with him at all.

“It was good. Really good,” he says, cheeks reddening, but refusing to feel embarrassed. Brett’s smile softens and Liam’s heart skips a beat. Guess Liam better get used to it if he’s going to keep hanging around Brett. And he definitely hopes so.

“Can I kiss you again?” Brett asks and Liam nods.

“Yeah, definitely,” he sounds a bit breathless but Brett smiles and kisses him with no further ado, this time not starting as softly, though he’s not aggressive either.

And he wants to date Liam. He’s not _making the straight guy gay_ or being an experience or something like that. He wants to be Liam’s boyfriend.

Liam finds himself pretty content with that right now.


End file.
